Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley behind I-T raid on Poes Garden: TTV Dhinakaran

Chennai: Directing his attack against the BJP for the raids at Poes Garden, rebel AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley were "directly responsible" for the searches at the "temple" where J. Jayalalithaa's "soul still lives."

Dhinakaran, who spoke to reporters in Tuticorin, also accused Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam of being "behind the raids" and pointed to their silence to drive home his point even though a day has passed since I-T sleuths entered the palatial Poes Garden residence and searched the rooms used by the late leader's personal assistant P.S. Poonkundran.The rebel leader, expelled from the AIADMK by the general council on September 12, had on Friday night said Jayalalithaa's soul would never forgive Palaniswami and Panneerselvam for "allowing the raids inside her house."

"(Finance Minister) Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) are trying to destroy our family using the Income Tax department, which is under their direct control. We are not scared of the raids and we will never run away from situations," the former Periyakulam MP, who was removed from the AIADMK in December 2011 by Jayalalithaa, said.

Continuing his attack against Modi, Dhinakaran sought to politicse the Prime Minister's meeting with the ailing DMK chief M. Karunanidhi last week, asking why he had not visited Jayalalithaa when she was admitted to Apollo Hospitals last year. "Poes Garden, the residence where Amma lived for years, is a temple for all 1.5 crore cadre of the AIADMK and this temple has now been raided. Neither Amma's soul nor the cadre would forget this betrayal," Dhinakaran said and attacked the CM and deputy CM for not condemning the raid in Poes Garden.

"Where is the CM and deputy CM? Where were they when the I-T sleuths raided Amma's temple? Real AIADMK cadre came out and protested against the searches," Dhinakaran said. The rebel leader said only a few pen drives, a laptop and letters were recovered from the residence.